Foundations of Photography: Lenses

Author

Released

2/11/2011

Many of the creative options available to a photographer hinge on an in-depth understanding of lenses. In Foundations of Photography: Lenses, Ben Long shows how to choose lenses and take full advantage of their creative options. The course covers fundamental concepts that apply to any camera, such as focal length and camera position, and shows how to evaluate and shop for DSLR lenses. The second half of the course focuses on shooting techniques: controlling autofocus, working with different focal lengths, and managing distortion and flare. The course also examines various filters and contains tips on cleaning and maintaining lenses.

Topics include:

Understanding field of view and camera position

Depth of field and lens choice

How to choose a lens

Examining lens features

Using specialized lenses such as fisheye and tilt/shift lenses

Focusing techniques

Using filters

Camera maintenance

Skill Level Beginner

2h 33m

Duration

2,209,149

Views

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- With digital cameras, it's easy to get hung up on the ideathat megapixels equals image quality.And sure, you need a certain pixel count to geta reasonable amount of detail.But on today's cameras with their huge quantities of pixels,the caliber of the lens you havehas as much to do with image qualityas the number of pixels that you have.The lens you chose determines everything,from the field of viewand magnification in your shot,to how sharply focused it can be,to how fast a shutter speed you can use,and how shallow your depth of field can be.

In other words, understanding your lens is criticalto taking good photos.And that's why we've dedicated an entire course to lenses.Our study begins with focal length,wherein you will see that while your zoom lensmay be a great convenience,it's also an easy way to dramatically alter an imagewithout even realizing it.From there, we'll move on to choosing a lens.We'll study some advanced auto-focus concepts.We'll explore the vagaries of telephotoand wide-angle lenses.Look at filters, or we'll look through filters.And finally, we'll talk about maintenance.

Again, while this may seem like a gear-centric course,remember that photography isan inherently technical medium.To achieve your artistic ends,you have to understand your gear,and the craft that is required to use it well.We'll be studying both the art and craft of photographythroughout this course.